Gestures are used for interacting with content in a user interface on electronic devices. Touch gestures may be used with an electronic device having a sensor capable of detecting one or more contact points on the devices, for example a touch-sensitive display. The touch gestures may include, for example, a tap, a double tap, a tap and hold, a tap and drag, a swipe and a pinch, although other gestures are possible.
A pinch gesture is commonly used to zoom-in and zoom-out of content which can comprise initiating the gesture with two contact points. In a touch-sensitive display the zoom generally commences with an index finger and thumb of a user although the gesture is not limited to the use of the thumb and finger. The contact points are then moved towards each other to zoom-in or moved away from each other to zoom-out. The amount to zoom-in or zoom-out is determined from the distance the contact points are moved. The zoom gesture may also comprise a translation component of the contact points, which may cause the zoomed content to be translated.
The pinch-to-zoom gesture provides a convenient gesture for controlling an amount to zoom; however, it may be inconvenient, cumbersome or undesirable in certain viewing situations. For example, when zooming in on web content, such as a webpage displayed in a browser of a mobile device, the pinch-to-zoom gesture may make it difficult to both zoom the displayed content to a desired level as well as locate the zoomed content in the desired location. This may require first pinching-to-zoom the content to the desired zoom level, and then using a drag gesture to position the content in the desired location.
One attempted solution for zooming in on content displayed in a browser is to use a double tap gesture. Content displayed in a browser is often grouped in distinct regions. Double tapping a region of content may zoom to a level appropriate for the region of the double tap gesture, as well as shift the displayed content so that the double-tapped region is displayed. Double tapping again may cause the display to zoom-out to the previous zoom level. While the double tap gesture may provide some benefit, it does not allow a user to easily zoom-in, or zoom-out, to different zoom levels. Further it may be difficult to use if content is grouped in nested sections or regions. Further still, the double tap may be difficult to use, or may not function as expected, when attempting to zoom-in on a hyperlink of the content.
An improved method of interacting with content to allow zooming of the content is desirable.